Shoe Tree Legend Tree in the UP

I went exploring today. I took a drive down my road. The Escanaba River isn’t that far from me and I wanted to see if there was a good spot for fishing and taking pictures. What I discovered instead was the UP version of Michigan’s shoe tree legend. Past abandoned and caving in camps, some even being used, and down a very narrow dirt road with potholes, I found three trees with shoes and boots in them.

Three trees have shoes in them along this seasonal road at the end of Maple Ridge Road in Rock MI

Rock is filled with haunting stories mainly of our Finnish ancestors and the old Finn Hall where they gathered to meet located on Finn Hall Road. Rock was founded by the Finnish community. People say Finn Hall is haunted and you can hear the people laughing and dancing to this day. I have never seen nor heard this coming from Finn Hall but some have and they are sticking to their story.

The Finnish people came here from a very communistic Finland! They worked hard and would gather together sharing everything they had. To this day, we the second and third generation of Finns willing give to others. We still even leave our doors unlocked and so long as you ask, we will gladly let you borrow or give you what you need.

Back to the shoe tree! I was curious to find that river and a good fishing spot so down the road I went. The road narrows and this time of year it is all rutted up with mud and snow. As you go down my road, you see which houses are being used and which ones people have long forgotten about. As you go further and futher the camps and houses get fewer and fewer. Once you reach the sign where it says seasonal road sign, you will see the trees with shoes and boots thrown high in them.

I took close ups of the shoes and boots.

The interesting part of all this is instead of my car not working when I got near them, my camera conveniently decided the batteries were dead and kept shutting off. I then turned to my trusty fire phone and ended up with issues with that while trying to take photos. It turned off the camera, turned on a different app, and did all kinds of weird things mainly as I was trying to take a picture. It took me a bit to get just the few I got.

When I got home and tried getting the pictures to upload on my computer and to wordpress, I ended up with slow internet speed, my internet stopped, and it took me about 30 minutes just to upload 13 photos. Weird, eh! My daughter kept telling me that the ghosts didn’t want their picture taken.

Enjoy the photos. I am sure this is nothing more than drunk hunters and fishermen having a great time and possibly wondering where they left their boots and shoes. If you are one of the people who own these shoes and wondered where you misplaced them, they are in the tree at the end of Maple Ridge in Rock!